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ANNUAL REPORT 2016 – BOSKALIS
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Rest of Europe
Revenue in the rest of Europe amounted to EUR 272.7 million.
In the home markets (Germany, the UK, Sweden and Finland)
numerous smaller and medium-sized projects were executed on
various port-related capital and maintenance projects, as well as
dredging activities for various offshore wind farms. The largest
project was the deepening of the approach channel and inner
harbor area of Portsmouth harbor, in preparation for the arrival of
two new aircraft carriers for the UK’s Royal Navy.
Rest of the world
Outside of Europe revenue amounted to EUR 425.9 million.
This was sharply down on the EUR 984.1 million reported for
2015, which was an exceptionally strong year, with a substantial
contribution from the Suez Canal project. The decline in revenue
was due to the absence of a similarly large project and a market
characterized by pressure on volumes and delays, both in the
award of new projects and in projects under execution. Activities
related to the Pluit project in Jakarta Bay, Indonesia were suspended
in early 2016, due to a dispute between the Indonesian authorities
and the client and have yet to recommence. Countries where
Boskalis was furthermore active include Singapore (Finger Pier I),
South Korea (Incheon), Australia (Melbourne), Kuwait, Angola,
Mexico (various port-related activities) and Panama (Punta Pacifica
2 artificial island).
FLEET DEVELOPMENTS
Utilization of the hopper and cutter fleet was considerably lower
than in the previous year, in line with the lower volume of work
and as a result of repairs. The hopper fleet had an effective
annual utilization rate of 27 weeks (2015: 43 weeks), with the
cutter fleet utilization rate at 9 weeks (2015: 34 weeks).
In light of market conditions and after completion of its fleet
rationalization study, Boskalis announced at the start of July that
ten dredging vessels would be taken out of service in the 2016-
2018 period. These include trailing suction hopper dredgers and
cutter suction dredgers. The fleet rationalization will be implemented
through the scrapping, sale and/or lay-up of vessels. Five of the
ten vessels have been scrapped or sold.
SEGMENT RESULT
Dredging & Inland Infra achieved an EBITDA of
EUR 223.0 million, with an operating result of EUR 119.7 million
(2015: EUR 400.4 million and EUR 299.5 million, respectively).
Given the increasingly challenging market the results from
dredging projects were reasonable. The result was negatively
impacted by the considerably lower fleet utilization rate compared
to the previous years. In addition, in 2016 there was a lower
contribution from financial settlements on projects that were
technically completed at an earlier stage, including former projects
in Australia, Africa and the Middle East. Such settlements are not
uncommon, although size and timing is unpredictable.
ORDER BOOK
At the end of the year the order book stood at EUR 1,893 million
(end-2015: EUR 1,507 million). Noteworthy projects include the
dredging activities for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel between Germany
Construction of the artificial island
Punta Pacifica 2 in Panama.